Author: DavidPJ

I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress towards our vision ‘to live in a society where there is no more waste’ over the past two years. Throughout 2014 and 2015 we saw profound changes in many aspects of our business, including our name. In the summer of 2015, our company embraced a new name, SUEZ. All

I welcome the publication of the Circular Economy Package proposals today, which give our sector, and policy-makers, some certainty in respect of targets for landfill diversion and recycling beyond 2020 – which is essential for the crucial investment decisions that need to be taken today and in the near future.

Does it really require the intervention of Parliament, through its new Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, for us to introduce more public services that provide a wider social benefit? As spending has been squeezed over the past few years I have witnessed just how much support from Local Government to the ‘third sector’ has been cut. If this trend

Like the rest of Britain I have been basking in the collective glory of, undoubtedly, the most successful Olympic Games ever. Despite intense scrutiny, Britain delivered a complex infrastructure project on time and on budget and in doing so became the envy of the world. From the very outset, the project was given top priority, backed first by Tony Blair

The potential for green growth in the UK is significant as we transform from landfilling the majority of our waste to the more sustainable options of recycling and recovering energy from it. For this change to be realised, around £20 billion needs to be invested over the next ten years in modern technology and infrastructure. If we manage to achieve

I had the pleasure of participating in the Chartered Institute of Waste Management’s annual conference in London recently and was very encouraged by the consensus of opinion about the future direction our industry should take. Everyone agreed that if the UK embraces the circular economy model, this would be the catalyst for behavioural change and would lead to tangible environmental

Watching Dirty Britain on ITV1 during the last couple of weeks really opens your eyes to Britain’s unsung heroes and another world of filth and grime which we – the public – generate, yet are often happy to ignore. What struck me was the professionalism and dedication of all those featured, especially those who carry out the most stomach-churning of

With 29 million tonnes of active waste still going to landfill in the UK, the concept of zero waste seems a long way off. Our industry estimates that the cost of transition to a more resource efficient future is between £10 and £20 billion. Any investment in this area relies heavily on the continued landfill tax increases imposed by the

It’s now widely accepted that a sustainable future is only achievable if we change our ways from a ‘throw away’ culture to one which recognises and extracts the value from the resources we consume. When I look at the waste management industry, I see only the enormous potential it has to help the UK, particularly in terms of renewable energy.

Scrap metal prices have risen dramatically and the regulatory system based around the outdated Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 is not fit for purpose. As a result, we have witnessed and endured a systematic attack on the UK’s infrastructure through the theft of metal over the past few years. The questionable tradition that the scrap metal industry can continue to